This is the Martial Arts Academy?

Chapter 43: Is This a Martial Arts Academy?

After hearing Zhang Kui's explanation, Zhao Rui finally understood. He had unknowingly become the first student in his freshman year to join the Martial Arts Team.

He figured that this likely wouldn't have been possible without the counselor Liu Jie's tireless efforts and the approval of Principal Hao.

"The main force of the Martial Arts Team is currently composed of seniors from the fourth and third years. We in the second year are mostly just errand runners..."

Zhang Kui explained as they walked, and soon the two arrived in front of a two-story building that looked like an ancient structure but was reinforced with concrete all around, resembling a fortress.

"Entry and exit here require facial recognition and iris scanning!"

After scanning his face at the security equipment by the entrance, Zhang Kui led Zhao Rui into the building.

The interior of the building was quite modern, with a corridor flanked by many individual rooms. Some of the doors were heavy-duty security steel doors.

"First, I'll have you take some basic measurements, then we'll register your information!"

Zhang Kui scanned his face in front of a heavy iron door, which then automatically opened to the sides.

Zhao Rui stepped inside, following him. Rows of cool, blue-white lights flowed like liquid mercury along the walls, dazzling and brilliant.

Several holographic screens floated on the hexagonal honeycomb ceiling, with streams of data unfolding and reorganizing in the air like ink dropped into water.

"..."

Zhao Rui was greatly shocked. Is this a Martial Arts Academy? If he hadn't experienced it himself, he would have thought it was a technology institute.

In the corner of the room stood three transparent, cylindrical, pod-like structures. Optical fibers covering their surfaces pulsed with light in a rhythmic, breathing pattern, as if encapsulating the profound nebulae from the deepest reaches of the galaxy.

Light-conducting fibers hidden in the floor formed a flowing star map, and as Zhao Rui and Zhang Kui walked, they stirred up layers of energy ripples resembling water waves.

"Senior, what is this place?"

Zhao Rui was dumbfounded, feeling like he was watching a sci-fi movie from his past life. Damn, this is too awesome.

"It's the Tenglong 3 Martial Arts Analysis Room developed by Huake Institute. Cool, right? I was stunned the first time I came here too, haha!"

Zhang Kui laughed heartily, seemingly recalling his own awkwardness the first time he visited.

"Yeah, it's quite impressive."

Zhao Rui nodded.

Zhang Kui walked over to an operation console, typed furiously for a while, then gestured for Zhao Rui to take off his shoes and step barefoot into one of the pod-like instruments.

Zhao Rui complied, stepping inside and putting on a helmet-like device. He then gripped two handles with his hands, standing in a spread-eagle pose.

"Circulate your Internal Energy. Use the method you're most familiar with. Don't worry about crushing anything; it's all high-strength alloy."

Zhang Kui's voice echoed from outside the sealed cabin.

Zhao Rui followed his instructions and circulated his Internal Energy. He felt a strange current pass through his body, stimulating the meridians that had been opened, bit by bit.

This feeling?

It's strangely comfortable!

Zhao Rui calmed his mind, carefully sensing the flow of the stimulation and the way the energy circulated.

Outside the cabin, in front of the data display instrument, Zhang Kui frowned. He looked at the fluctuating data charts and the multi-dimensional holographic human figure, muttering to himself, "Junior's talent is just average!"

"Meridian permeability is 50%, Dantian expansion speed is below average, Internal Energy viscosity is 70%..."

"However, one acupoint has already connected to the Bridge of Heaven and Earth. Heh heh, interesting!"

After about five or six minutes, Zhang Kui turned off the testing instrument and called Zhao Rui out.

"Senior, how's my talent?"

Zhao Rui was quite curious about this incredible instrument and couldn't help but ask.

"It's alright, pretty good. Let's go to the registration room to record your biometric information!"

Zhang Kui said casually, clearly a bit perfunctory.

"Uh, Senior, you're being too obviously dismissive. Is it really bad?"

"It's not bad. You're currently ranked first among the team members."

"..."

This senior, whose name sounded quite imposing, turned out to be a bit of a joker.

Zhao Rui sighed. He had actually prepared himself mentally. If his talent were truly exceptional, he would have directly applied to a Martial Arts Academy long ago.

If not for the System panel's enhancement, he would probably still be at the Level 3 Martial Artist level right now.

"It's okay. At least you've opened one acupoint, which is already better than many seniors in the third year."

Zhang Kui offered some comfort, and the two left the testing room and headed to another room.

"Master Deng, a new team member. I've brought him to register."

Upon entering, Zhang Kui bent down and peeked inside. When he saw the old man lying on a recliner, his face immediately broke into a fawning smile.

The old man was scruffy, with graying hair and a wrinkled face. His eyes were half-open, as if he were half-asleep.

"Oh, the machine at the entrance. You can operate it yourself. The password is..."

After he finished speaking, the old man turned his head away, not even glancing in their direction.

Zhang Kui nudged Zhao Rui with his eyelids, signaling him to keep his movements quiet. Then, the two of them stealthily walked to a workstation, opening the computer and the connected equipment behind it.

Registering name, identification information, facial scan, iris scan, fingerprint scan...

After a series of operations, Zhang Kui called out to the old man's retreating back, "Master Deng, we're leaving now. I'll shut down the computer for you!"

"Go on, go on!"

The old man didn't even bother to lift his arm, muttering a few words before falling silent.

Seeing this, Zhang Kui quickly led Zhao Rui out, closing the door and hurrying away from the registration room.

"Senior Brother, who was that...?"

"Don't know him!"

"..."

You don't know him, but you acted like some reclusive master, completely fooling me.

Zhao Rui couldn't help but roll his eyes. This Senior Brother, it's probably better to keep my distance from him in the future.

"The last time I came, the Senior Brother who registered me was just like this. When the freshmen arrive in the second semester, you can handle the registration!"

"...Senior Brother, I'm a freshman too!"

"Oh, I forgot! It's okay, first time's awkward, second time's familiar. You can't expect me, your Senior Brother, to do it forever!"

Zhang Kui readily handed over the future registration duties to Zhao Rui.

After registering their information, the two returned to the main hall the way they came.

Teacher Wang saw them return and casually tossed a USB drive over. As Zhao Rui reached out to catch it, he said, "This contains the Calming Heart Art. It's for Martial Way cultivation above level seven and below the Grandmaster realm. Memorize it and practice diligently!"

With that, he waved his hand, dismissing Zhao Rui.

Seeing this, Zhao Rui bid farewell to Teacher Wang and Zhang Kui and walked out along the bluestone path.

When he reached the entrance, before he could get close, the large doors creaked open automatically to both sides.

Zhao Rui's face twitched. Where is this profound Internal Energy? This is just an automatic sensor door!

Inside the main hall!

Teacher Wang looked at the data table displayed on the computer monitor, hesitated for a moment, and then asked Zhang Kui, "What was your meridians patency rate when you first arrived?"

"Teacher, 86%!"

Zhang Kui replied concisely.

"Mm, alright, you can go about your business now."

With that, he waved Zhang Kui away.

Night slowly descended upon Dongqi University, following the rosy sunset clouds, enveloping the brightly lit campus buildings.

Zhao Rui was currently in his dorm playing mobile games with his roommates. They had just finished dinner after two classes in the afternoon.

Just as they were engrossed in the game, someone knocked on the dorm door. Le Bin, who was closest to the door, opened it casually while still staring at his phone.

"Excuse me, is Zhao Rui here?"

Two unfamiliar male students entered.

Zhao Rui looked up slightly at the sound of his name and replied, "I'm Zhao Rui. Who are you guys?"

"Oh, we're from the College Student Union. My name is Luo Zhengwen, and I'm the vice president of the Student Union. We wanted to talk to you about something. Is it convenient?"

The young man leading the group wore square-framed glasses and had a scholarly appearance.

"College Student Union?"

Zhao Rui frowned. He didn't have any dealings with them.

However, since they were the "governing" organization of the students, Zhao Rui still smiled, put down his game, and nodded. "It's convenient. Should we talk here, or go outside?"

Seeing Zhao Rui agree, the visitors immediately breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Let's talk outside the dorm."

Zhao Rui nodded and left the dorm building with the two of them.

When they reached the small plaza outside the building, Luo Zhengwen got straight to the point. "It's like this, we came to invite you to join our Student Union. As soon as you join, you'll be the vice president."

"Uh!"

Zhao Rui was taken aback for a moment, but then he quickly understood and smiled, "I'm just an ordinary student. I won't cause you any trouble."

During the military training, Zhao Rui had become the representative of the freshmen in the college. Coupled with his personal combat strength comparable to students from the Martial Arts College, the Student Union members couldn't help but pay attention to him.

Although they didn't know if Zhao Rui would become a troublemaker in the future, they decided to bring him into their organization as a preventative measure. By making everyone a stakeholder, wouldn't most problems be solved?

"Our president also discussed this with the advisor. The teacher recognizes your abilities."

"No, thank you. I'm usually quite busy and don't want to join the student council."

"This..."

"It's fine, I'm heading back now."

Zhao Rui smiled and turned back towards the dormitory.

"This..."

After Zhao Rui left, the staff member following Luo Zhengwen spoke up and asked.

"Alright, we've said what we needed to say. Let's go! Inform the president."

Luo Zhengwen finished speaking and turned to leave the small plaza.

Back in the dorm, Jian Congsheng asked curiously, "What did the student council want with you?"

"Nothing important! Is it about the Martial Way academy?"

Zhao Rui smiled, not clarifying.

"Oh!"

Jian Congsheng didn't understand much about the Martial Way either, and seeing that Zhao Rui didn't want to talk more about it, he stopped.

In truth, he understood that Zhao Rui wasn't on the same path as them. Even though they shared a dorm, their lives were completely different.

Their futures would also be different. Even if Zhao Rui made no further progress in the Martial Way, with his current skill level, he would still do well in society.

However, since fate had brought them together in the same dorm, it was natural to maintain a good relationship.

Students were far more pragmatic than adults imagined.

The night passed without incident.

After his morning professional class the next day, Zhao Rui, carrying his course schedule, hurried to the Martial Way academy.

It was his second time here, but Zhao Rui was still amazed by the ancient, Zen-like atmosphere of the courtyard.

Undoubtedly, a lot of money had been spent!

"A loving mother's hand stitches the thread, for the wanderer's clothes!"

"Brothers, love can sour, friendship can betray, only your mother's love for you is the one unchanging love in your entire life!"

"Wishing all readers' mothers a Happy Holiday!"

"Gratitude for nurturing, gratitude for the mother-child bond!"